


Double-edged

by SuperiorDimwit



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Conspiracy, Koneko captains the ship, Mystery, Work Up For Adoption, brings up stuff they need to deal with, but really, takes place after chapter 72, the word count seems to indicate large-scale death, work it as you please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 08:23:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9170638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperiorDimwit/pseuds/SuperiorDimwit
Summary: Mythology is full of arrogant men who try to cheat the gods at their own game: and full of arrogant gods who think humans are nothing but their game pieces. Miwa Konekomaru isn't arrogant: he's a tactician. And he will not be played.





	

**Author's Note:**

> **A fic about Konekomaru?** Well, yeah. I agree he's not the most interesting character around in canon, but that's what fanfiction is for: seeing and bringing out hidden (or wasted) potential. Mephisto speaks of game pieces but I prefer to think of them as puzzle pieces, each meant to fit together with the others and add their specific talent to the whole. So far each one of them has revealed an interesting backstory and special talent, and while I'm waiting for Koneko's I thought this could be an interesting angle.
> 
> I wrote this after the Illuminati arc – out of frustration, as usual – and then forgot about it. (I'm doing some New Year's tidying here) So a bit of the things I wanted this fic to address have already been addressed. Though I'm really not complaining. :D

_Please come to study room 344 in the library at lunch break. I need to talk to you. =(^w^)=_

Koneko put the phone down on the spacious table in the study room he had booked. He let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes for a moment. Right. The ball was in motion now. All or nothing.

He placed two fingers just under his earlobes and rubbed them painfully into the bony groove of his jaw. Clenching his teeth when he was nervous was such a bad habit. Though, to be fair, it was being nervous that had become a bad habit. He had had a lot to be nervous about these past months.

Koneko had always been observant; it was a skill that went hand in hand with being nervous, really. He had prided himself on that and been well liked for his attentive, considerate nature. In truth he had always thought of himself as that kind of person – a gentle person, one who kept to the sidelines and helped out if needed. He had never thought it would come to this.

" _Things have changed so fast_ ", he mused, staring absentmindedly out the window. It was late autumn and still warm – there was even a lone butterfly bumping the glass from outside. To think that so many things had happened in such a short time…

Observation skills can be used in many ways.

Koneko's fingers ghosted over the long scar on his arm. He had two metal screws in there, holding together the bones the Earth King had broken months prior. That had also become a habit, as if runnings his fingers over the smooth surface helped him think when he was troubled.

A sudden vibration from the phone on the table. The screen flashed and said Okumura-sensei had replied with a curt "I will be there".

Koneko sank back in his chair. He knew he was tense, but to spring up like that at the slightest sound… His fingers went back to the scar, this time not absentmindedly. There was a reason he touched it, not just for the strange soothing feeling of the texture. That had been the day they found out about Okumura. It had been the day Bon saw the Kurikara honzon for the first time outside the photos the High Priest had showed him.

Photos of a honzon that had been in their temple for seventeen generations. Their most holy relic, the relic their entire cult had been founded upon. It had gone missing, and nobody had ever seemed to worry what had become of it.

Koneko had always found that strange.

The phone vibrated again: Kamiki was telling him that cat smileys were silly and that she would arrive soon. It was funny how she still pretended to be cold, after she had opened up so much to them since the ordeal with the Illuminati.

She didn't realise he had noticed, probably.

Moriyama's message came soon after, with her own cat smiley attached. He had debated with himself before sending the invitation to her. She seemed lost in her own little world, sometimes, which could put this operation in jeopardy – though sometimes she also proved very astute of her surroundings, in an intuitive sort of way. Looking at the other three he had called, he needed somebody like that. He needed a balanced team. Okumura-sensei, Kamiki, Moriyama, and Bon.

Bon… His thougths swerved back to home, to when they had all gone there in search of the Eye of the Impure King. Bon had told him of the letter the High Priest had addressed to Rin. Koneko had read it, too, and noticed something Bon had neglected to mention.

The former Paladin had stolen the sword for Sir Pheles.

The invisibility cloaks they had been given to break Rin out of his cell had come from Sir Pheles.

These past months, every shocking revelation and turn of events – and that meeting when Shima returned…

Koneko's fists clenched atop the table. Every muscle in his body had been drawing tighter and tighter these past months, as if counting off – counting down? – the turbulent changes. Shima's betrayal, Kamiki's kidnapping, Takara's position as "coordinator" – whatever that meant – and Kamiki's sister proving to be safe and sound…

Every single thing traced back to Sir Pheles.

"Yo." Bon's sudden arrival snapped him out of his thoughts. He entered the room in regular school uniform but had his gym bag slung casully over one shoulder.

Bon had a determination and drive that was exceptional, and very useful if one could just steer his mind in the right direction. He was a force to be reckoned with in combat, too, and knew how to make quick decisions and coordinate a team.

"How long d'ya think this is gonna take? I need ta get the laundry out of the machine before lunch break is over." He lifted the hand holding his gym bag strap.

It was very unlike Bon to plan so poorly that he had to sacrifice his lunch break to do laundry. After a brief moment of confusion, Koneko put two and two together: no, _Bon_ would never be that bad at planning.

"You're spoiling him, Bon."

"I'm n–!" Yes, he was: he knew he was. But it was just another obstacle to overcome, like all the ones he had conquered before: and, just like before, he reined the outburst in and channelled its energy to fuel his ambition. "I can't be a leader if I don't have the humility to serve. I need ta prove myself worthy of his tutelage: there's so much knowledge, so much ta learn from him."

Exceptional determination indeed: when steered in the right direction.

"Like how to make others serve you?" Kamiki suggested. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she had opened it.

Kamiki and Bon were perhaps the most similar of all the cram school students, in terms of stubbornness and self-reliance; perhaps that was why they couldn't help but grate on each other's nerves, too.

"Hey! It's only natural for an apprentice ta show his appreciation for the master! It's called respect!"

"It's called housemaid – though I doubt there's any uniforms your size."

Or perhaps Kamiki simply enjoyed the heat of battle. There was some amusement to it, Koneko noted: a fine, fine pinprick of humour to her dry remarks. It would be great if they could find common ground and cooperate – Kamiki still had obstacles to overcome, if she were ever to view herself as part of the team and work with them as a team.

"Technically he's the lady of the house: Lightning is his man-crush", he filled in.

"You too, Koneko!?"

"Wow. Their kids really _are_ going to be gorillas."

He used to shy away from these jousts; friendly as they may be, the raised voices made him uneasy. Koneko preferred to stay out of it, watch Kinzou terrorize his little brother or watch the Hojo girls taunt the other Shimas. It had taken him long to even realise it _was_ friendly (most of the time), and that it was actually a way of forming bonds. It was with tentative steps he joined in now, but it seemed to go well and just sort of… flowed.

"Hi everyone!" Moriyama greeted the bantering trio with a sunny smile, while Okumura-sensei closed the door behind them with a formal "hello" and a nod.

Okumura-sensei was one of those people who refused to be read, like a book fitted with locks. Or rather, a book that had been heavily edited with correction fluid. There was no reason to doubt his proficiency, though. Smart and strong: the role model exorcist.

Moriyama… Koneko would have likened her to a picture book. She was incredibly easy to read – deceptively easy to read, and Koneko had caught himself occasionally missing the finer details because of that.

"Then all of us are here. Please, find someplace to sit. There's something I want to talk about."

Nerves fluttered in Koneko's stomach despite how tightly the muscles there had knotted. Well, then. This was it. Once the scraping of chair legs against floor had subsided, he gathered himself with a breath; when he let it out, the fluttering had settled somewhat. He was in his right element.

"What I want to discuss today is Sir Pheles."

The room and everyone in it tensed. There had been a silent agreement between them ever since that meeting in the principal's office, and nobody had broached the subject since. Koneko knew they all felt the same about it: it was too big. Too overwhelming. Surreal. To know that a massive, unseen force monitored and steered their every step – anybody would feel powerless after learning something like that.

Powerless, but also infuriated.

"I'd like to start off with a question", he resumed. "Do you trust him?"

The silence continued. They looked like students being asked a trick question on a test. Bon was the one to speak up first; he kept his arms crossed over his chest and glared at a spot on the table.

"No. I don't trust him." His glare intensified, in a way Koneko had seen many times during their childhood. "How could I? People died in Kyoto. My old man could'a died. Pheles _could_ have prevented it, but he just let it happen." He raised his eyes for a moment and met Koneko's, then looked down again. "I can't trust a man like that."

As expected of Bon. Koneko nodded quietly, waiting to hear everyone out before he shared his own opinion.

"It's a complex situation." Okumura-sensei had his hands folded before him on the table, and spoke more to them than to his peers. Guarded. Always guarded. "Nii-san and I owe him our lives, on one hand. On the other, he didn't spare us out of kindness – as he said, we're his game pieces. As long as we don't know what he wants us for, I can't place my trust in him."

Koneko nodded again. A long silence followed, with Moriyama growing redder and redder with discomfort. It didn't break until Kamiki huffed irritably.

"What sensei said. I've thought a lot about this and I haven't come to any conclusive answer. He kept my sister safe and made sure the spy jerk didn't kill Uke and Mike, and that I'm grateful for." She exhaled again: a long, frustrated noise, like air being squeezed out of an inflatable mattress. "But he didn't tell me. I was worried sick night and day for five years, all because of some game he wants to play." Her eyes narrowed. "I can't trust him until I know why he did that."

Yes. They all had strong motivations to be wary of Sir Pheles – all except Moriyama. Koneko had taken that into consideration, too. People's minds narrow when things get personal, and narrow minds miss important angles. From what he had observed of the timid gardener girl, she might be able to provide them with those angles.

"Moriyama-san…?" he entreated gently.

Her face deepened another shade of red, before she tipped her head forward and hid behind her bangs. Her words came out slowly, like reluctant honey drops clinging to their jar.

"I… trust… Sir Pheles…"

"What?!" Bon and Kamiki blurt out in unison.

"Shiemi-san…?" Okumura-sensei looked shocked. Not upset, like the others. Just shocked.

The tactician in Koneko took careful note of it.

"Could you elaborate, Moriyama-san?" Koneko asked patiently. Yes. He hadn't been wrong about her. "I don't mean to accuse you of anything. I just want to know why you trust Sir Pheles."

Shiemi needed a few calming breaths before she found her voice, and a couple more to find the right words.

"I… I was as shocked as you, eh, during that meeting. In Sir Pheles' office. I didn't know he had done those things. Deliberately done them. I thought it was awful." She let the remainder of air wheeze out of her, swallowed, and drew new breath. "But I believed him when he said he's not our enemy. I mean, despite everything he put us through, we made it. I don't think he would have let any harm come to us – like that time on the summer camp, he was probably watching over us the whole time. And we gained things, too. Rin got his execution suspended, we found the Illuminati base, a-and Ryuuji-san's father has no secrets to keep anymore. I just think…" Her voice softened: Moriyama herself softened, as if the tension just poured out of her body. "I think that even if Sir Pheles plays a rough game, he wants things to end well. I believe he will make the right choices, even if- even if we don't see it that way right now."

Koneko nodded. Yes. He had assembled a good team. Working together, they had a fighting chance.

"It's not the right choices if people die", Bon argued heatedly. "You can't come an' say things ended well when there's families in Kyoto who lost loved ones 'cause Sir Pheles wanted to _test_ us!"

"Bon." To his relief – and pride – Bon actually quieted down to listen. "It is the right choices, even if people die." Bon looked like he had a great deal to say about that, but Koneko continued before he could: "From Sir Pheles' point of view, it is: and it's his point of view we need to consider. That's why I asked you to come here today."

It was the first rule of any tactician: know your enemy. Know their motivations, their strengths, their weaknesses. Plan accordingly. Though, more than knowing the enemy, it was important to know yourself. Koneko knew his strengths.

_Observation. Analysis. Implementation. A caring heart._

He also knew his weaknesses.

_Doubt. Fear. A caring heart._

"We don't know what Sir Pheles wants. We do know what he's capable of, to obtain it." Koneko sought Bon's eyes, and the body count in Kyoto passed unsaid between them. "Like you said, Moriyama-san: he wants things to end well. And he doesn't care if he has to sacrifice lives to get there. In that sense, Sir Pheles is the perfect strategist."

A caring heart is a dangerous thing. It is what makes most tacticians useless; it is what makes them valuable. A tactician might not grasp the opportunity to obtain the greater goal if it means lives will be lost on the way. He will be a hero to his team mates, and a nail in the eye of his superiors.

A strategist has no use for a caring heart. A strategist plays to win the final round with little regard for cost, as the Kyoto branch learnt that day the Impure King broke free – the day it was _allowed_ to break free.

A caring heart is a dangerous thing, and Koneko plans to teach that lesson to Sir Pheles next time he tries to sacrifice people for his plans. When that time comes Koneko will have his own stratagem ready to counter him: this group will ensure he has.

"The real question isn't what Sir Pheles wants, but how much it will cost to get it: because the ones paying the bills will be us, not him. That's why we need to find out as much as possible about his plans. I don't honestly think we can stop him, not as things stand right now, but we need to keep that cost to a minimum. That's what exorcists do. We make sure people aren't harmed because of demons."

"Is there any chance the Order will step in?" Kamiki asked, crossed arms tucked against her chest as if to hold in something about to tear her apart. "They must know about this. Lightning was there when Pheles admitted that Kyoto could have been prevented – someone in the top ranks should be pushing for consequences."

"I'm afraid they won't." Okumura was more relaxed than Kamiki, ostensibly – when was that man ever relaxed? "The Order is on its knees already: every available exorcist is deployed to deal with the increasing demonic activities. They simply don't have the time or resources to handle any turbulence in the Order's internal structure right now, and besides…" He paused to breathe: to control the slight, slight quiver in his voice that still echoed in his next words: "Besides, I suspect that Sir Pheles has an illicit hold on the Order. It might be that they _can't_ take action against him, even when the evidence is indisputable."

"I'm not sure Lightning even told his superiors", Bon said. " _He_ doesn't trust Sir Pheles, that much I know. Speaking of trust – I'm guessing Shima's missing for a reason?"

"We can't trust him with this", Koneko confirmed with a slight shaking of his head. "He reports directly to Sir Pheles. And I chose not to invite Okumura-kun either", he added with a glance at their teacher. "I trust him, but he can be careless sometimes and we can't afford that. He and Shima would both jeopardise what we're trying to accomplish."

"Understandable – but, what _are_ we trying to accomplish?" Okumura-sensei had a sceptic's mind, wanting all angles scrutinised and all holes plugged before he would consider getting in the boat. "I have faith in your analytic capacity, Miwa-kun, but this far I've only heard vague outlines of what we are actually going to do about Sir Pheles."

Koneko felt all gazes on him, and a feeling stirred in his chest – embarrassment and pride combined, if such a thing is possible. They looked at him for confirmation, not for condemnation. They looked at him like a leader.

"We're going to have the game pieces beat the player."

His words hang in the air like smoke: possible to understand but not to grasp. He hears it in the silence, sees it in their eyes. They saw Sir Pheles – Samael – toss Rin into a wall without so much as lifting a finger. They heard him call them worms and saw the very fabric of spacetime writhe under his power. They are replaying those events in their minds right now, and their hearts are flooding with doubt.

"You don't think it's possible", he said, pinning doubt to the table in plain view. "I won't argue with that. It's impossible for us to defeat Sir Pheles, but it's _possible_ for us to protect ourselves and others from him – _if_ we know what he plans to do. That is where our focus needs to be: on what we can do. Not on what we can't." They weren't on board yet. Koneko had encountered that problem a few times: what was visible to him wasn't always visible to others. "We think of ourselves as his prisoners, but the truth is that he is our prisoner." A bemused flinch passed around the table. "He needs us. Even if we cause trouble and push our luck, he can't harm us. That's the one advantage we have over him: we are crucial for his plans to work." Koneko paused to lick his lips. "The question is how long."

He could see the answer written on their faces, every last one of them. _As long as we are useful._ As long as Sir Pheles needed them to achieve his goals, they were safe. They and no one else. Not their parents, not their siblings or their friends. If pieces needed to be sacrificed to forward the game, they would be: and once Sir Pheles had gotten what he wanted, they would all be disposable pawns.

One after the other their faces hardened as they saw the corner they were backed into. There was no choice. The only choice was whether to let themselves be blindly played or to attempt reclaiming control over their lives.

It was Okumura-sensei who spoke for them, adjusting his glasses as he did:

"How do we do it?"

Koneko had considered that: had placed himself in Sir Pheles' mind, by applying what he had learnt of him. To investigate Pheles himself was useless: he worked through acquired hands and feet, pulling strings through spies and employees like a spider at the centre of a large and sinuous cobweb. Pheles was clean – _had_ to keep himself clean.

"We take away the fire from under the cauldron."

"What…?"

All of them were befuddled, except Bon. Bon, who spent so much time reading and memorising old works, narrowed his eyes as he pinpointed where that sentence belonged.

"You mean…"

"When the enemy can't be attacked directly, attack him indirectly", Koneko continued. "If he needs gunpowder for his weapons, attack the wagons that transport it or the merchants that sell it to him. If he needs electricity to keep his surveillance and defences operating, cut the power lines. If he relies on spies and game pieces to play his game…"

"We're going to refuse to cooperate?" Kamiki snorted.

"We're not going to get information from _him_ ", Bon murmured, continuing his train of thought, "we're getting information from… ourselves?"

"From ourselves, and anyone else affiliated with Sir Pheles", Koneko confirmed. "He needs us for a reason: _us_. The key to understanding what he plans to do is to look at ourselves and our unique talents, and what our combined abilities amount to, as well as to investigate the people that have worked closely with Pheles: Neuhaus, Fujimoto – anyone we can dig up anything about."

"Takara." Kamiki's eyes dulled into flat, reflecting shards of glass. "My sister Tsukumo was also captured by the Illuminati, but she was rescued by the Order and sent to live with the Takaras. Pheles apparently holds shares in the Takara company – he hired puppet boy from the same family."

"Perfect: that's exactly the kind of lead I'm talking about." The fluttery feeling surged high in his stomach. "If the Takaras are working for Sir Pheles there might be something there that could give us a lead. Will you investigate them, Kamiki?"

There's nothing to question. She nods – the tight-lipped, furnace-eyed nod of a soldier – and Okumura-sensei speaks up next:

"Shura might be able to find things out at HQ. And maybe track Neuhaus – her familiars have some very useful abilites."

"Good – Kirigakure-sensei is suspicious of Sir Pheles too, isn't that so? If not I trust you can ask her in ways that won't make her wonder what we're up to."

"Just give her beer", Bon huffed. Koneko was quite sure the only reason Bon tolerated her lax attitude was that she outranked him by far.

"What about the monks at your home, Yuki-chan? They knew about Rin all along – maybe they know something more?"

A wave of tightness passed through the muscles around Okumura's lips, one that made him look much older than he was. "Impossible to say. They might have information that could lead to useful sources, but I wouldn't dare hope for more than that. Father was always very secretive about our past. Regardless, I will look into it."

Koneko nodded again, putting a tight lid on the excitement strumming his ribcage. "Bon, you said Lightning is suspicious of Sir Pheles?"

"Definitely." Bon's gaze was the sharp, needle-tip one he got when determination dug its claws deep into him. "I don't know how much he knows or how much I can get out of him, but I'll try."

Moriyama had been flushing redder and redder during the discussion, and looked ready to melt out of her chair.

"I'm… I'm afraid I don't have any information sources I can look into. I was very isolated when I grew up, I don't–"

"Moriyama-san", Koneko says, with the gentlest smile he can make, "always focus on what you _can_ do. You were handpicked by Sir Pheles, just like the rest of us: your abilities, your knowledge, your family history – somewhere in there, there is a reason he needs you. Something you can do that we can't. Something that is unique to _you_." He puts emphasis on the word, gently but firmly, hoping from the bottom of his heart that she will see her strengths once she starts looking properly. "It's a place to start, right?"

It was. The light in her eyes told him so, way before she replied: "Right!"

"Then we all know what to do. I will call you to meet up again next week – don't feel like you need to leave a full report if you haven't found anything, but someone else might have found something that could help you in your investigation, and so on. We pool our progress and work with what we find. All good? Any questions? I will create a chat group so you can text any questions or discoveries you think are important. Thank you all for coming."

The meeting was adjourned, and Bon still had time to get the laundry done and gobble down a hasty lunch. Koneko remained in the room under the pretense that he was going to keep log and set up the chat. He would: shortly. He had to deflate first, sink back in his chair and sigh all the flutteriness out of his stomach.

Moriyama's smile. The light in her eyes – the light in everyone's eyes. No matter what they managed to dig up, Koneko had accomplished a lot just by kindling that. They saw the opportunities now, the path ahead and what they could do to progress forward, and already there had they overcome the first and greatest obstacle that had held them back: helplessness. Koneko, weak-bodied and timid, knew that feeling well: how it could blind and paralyse an individual into passivity.

Another deep sigh left him as he attempted to relax. It was only mildly successful, and his fingers sought the scar on his arm again. How could he relax with so much at stake? With so few facts known and so many dangers ahead? He breathed in and sighed again, massaged the muscles in his jaw and temples. The meeting went well, that's what mattered at the moment. They were all at work, all pursuing loose ends that might, with some luck, provide enough string for them to fashion a net – to catch any game piece falling, and to trap the one who played them.

All was going as planned, and yet… Koneko couldn't shake his unease.

Sir Pheles wanted them all for a reason – for the skills they could combine. It wasn't hard to see that he wanted Koneko for his brains. For his ability to observe, analyse, strategise – his ability to do what Sir Pheles did.

And if so: had it crossed the demon's mind that Koneko might use those skills against him?

If so…

Who was playing who?

**Author's Note:**

> And there you have the reason I need a fic that focuses on Konekomaru.
> 
> Anyone interested in writing an L vs. Yagami Light strategical mastermind showdown between Konekomaru and Mephisto? While also having the option to explore many blaring question marks such as
> 
> \- where the heck is Neuhaus? (now answered, and boy am I pleased with that answer)  
> \- where the heck is Takara, what is the deal with his puppet, and what are his family's ties to Mephisto?  
> \- why the flying fuck are none of the characters addressing the elephant in the room that is Mephisto's proclamation "you are all my game pieces"?  
> \- why aren't we seeing any whatsoever interaction between the twins and the monks who raised them as family – not even a letter? (also answered, kinda, but I'm still wanting Family Feels)  
> \- why is nobody writing Glorious Troll Interaction between Bon and Lightning?
> 
> The basic difference between **a tactician (Konekomaru) and a strategist (Mephisto)** is a matter of perspective. A tactician concerns themselves with "right here, right now" and winning the battle at hand with as few losses as possible; a strategist looks at the whole picture and might decide to sacrifice some pawns/lose some battles if that means winning the entire war.


End file.
